The Independent is up for sale. The paper's founder, and current chairman of its publishing company, Andreas Whittam Smith, has been authorised to seek out a buyer.

The owners, Alexander Lebedev and his son, Evgeny, have been indicating for some time that they would be happy to dispose of the paper and its sister titles, i, and the Independent on Sunday.

They have made various cryptic statements over the last six months about their willingness to offload loss-making papers that they see no prospect of turning into profit.

Alexander Lebedev's fortunes, based on a variety of businesses in Russia, have declined dramatically over the last couple of years.

The first major indication of his decision to sell the papers was two key changes of personnel on the board of the company responsible for running them, Independent Print.

Whittam Smith moved from being a non-executive director to become chairman. And, most striking of all, Evgeny stood down from the board.

The official line from Independent Print is that Whittam Smith is merely seeking new investors. But the reality is that the papers are in play.

Whittam Smith is said to feel "honour bound" to save the title he launched in 1986 and to do all he can to find someone willing to continue publishing the paper.

At present, bankers have not been appointed. And no genuine bidder, thus far, has emerged. (Rumours some weeks ago that Charles Saatchi was interested were quickly scotched).

It would appear that Whittam Smith has put out a fishing line in order to see whether anyone bites. And, like many fishermen who use unpalatable bait, the wait for a catch is proving longer than he would wish.

ABC figures for the month of November 2013 recorded The Independent's average daily sale as 67,710 copies, but only 43,492 of these were sold at the full cover price of £1.40. Its spin-off title, i, which sells for 20p, had a headline sale of 297,150, but 64,270 were bulk sales (those distributed at airports and hotels).

It is stressed by Independent insiders, speaking off the record, that nothing has suddenly changed in the last week to justify renewed speculation. One firm statement, however, is that the potential disposal does not involve the profitable London Evening Standard, nor does it affect the coming launch of London Live TV.

The National Union of Journalists is worried about the implications of a sale. "If buyers are being sought, there must be guarantees on staffing levels and a commitment to the paper's editorial independence," says its general secretary, Michelle Stanistreet.

"The Independent has an important role in providing a plurality of news content in the UK's national newspaper market. It is essential that it can continue to do so."

The troubled history of The Independent...

When The Independent was launched in 1986, it immediately struck a chord with the newspaper-buying public. It soon attracted a large audience, managing to register a sale of 400,000 by 1989, at the expense of rivals such as The Guardian and The Times.

It was founded by three former Daily Telegraph journalists, led by Whittam Smith, who set up an independent company, Newspaper Publishing, to control the paper.

But the following years began what has proved to be a lengthy gradual decline. Its first mistake was to launch its seventh-day title, the Independent on Sunday, which drained its resources.

This reverse was exacerbated by the onset of a deep recession and, soon after, by Rupert Murdoch's decision to cut the cover price of The Times.

Newspaper Publishing ran into financial problems and had to seek out new investors. Two European media groups stepped in by taking small stakes, but The Independent's cachet remained a lure for several larger publishers.

After a short battle for control between Tony O'Reilly's Irish-based Independent News & Media (INM), and Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), then run by David Montgomery, there was a period of uneasy joint ownership.

Eventually, in April 1996, O'Reilly bought out MGN. His company was hugely profitable at the time, with media assets in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa plus the dominating titles in Ireland.

He was therefore relatively happy to accept The Independent's losses in return for the prestige of owning a British national newspaper that, by virtue of its title, had gained global kudos.

After a number of false starts, he acquired an editor, Simon Kelner, who was pragmatic enough to deal with cuts in resources and flexible enough to innovate with design and editorial changes. Under him, the paper became the first broadsheet to switch to a compact format.

Circulation improved for a while but the paper continued to lose money. When INM itself was struck by financial reverses, the situation for the paper worsened, with continual rounds of staff cuts.

In November 2008, the Indy titles moved to Northcliffe House, headquarters of the Daily Mail's publisher, Associated Newspapers, in order to cut back-office costs.

But INM, suffering from a bitter board split that would lead to O'Reilly's departure, wanted out and, in March 2010, it sold the paper to Alexander Lebedev for a nominal £1 fee plus debate of £9m.

Billed as a billionaire Russian oligarch, Lebedev had bought a controlling stake in the London Evening Standard the year before and looked as if he would be the paper's long-term saviour.

In fact, he had entered the national newspaper sector at just the wrong time. Both advertisers and readers were giving up on print. Sales were falling away.

His company then came up with yet another innovation in October 2010 by launching a populist version of The Independent, titled i. Selling for 20p, it repurposed the Indy's content in a format considered more accessible for young readers.

It proved popular, soon out-selling the Indy and building an audience of more than 300,000. It has fallen back very slightly of late. Its success could well make it more saleable than its big sister.